


Insomnia

by VideoPlay5178



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-10
Updated: 2015-02-10
Packaged: 2018-03-11 13:47:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3328619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VideoPlay5178/pseuds/VideoPlay5178
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ray's going to flunk his first college English class if he doesn't go to the writing center. Thankfully, there's a Ryan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Insomnia

**Author's Note:**

> I half based this off of my own school and half just cause I thought it would be cute. Please leave a comment! Thank you for reading!

            “Once you finish your rewrites, try taking your papers to the writing center.” Ray’s professor told the class. “Alright, you’re free to go.”

            While other students packed their edited papers away into folders and left, Ray sat and stared at the stupid amount of red marks on his paper. Every sentence had at least two things wrong. So he wasn’t the best writer, but he got into the goddamned college for fucks sake, he couldn’t be that bad.

            He sighed, his first English class of college and he was already looking at a failing grade. They were to write a paper every week, he was fucked. This first draft was just so they knew what their professor was looking for. Clearly, he wasn’t anything his professor wanted.

            Ray read over his professor’s comments as he walked dejectedly back to his dorm. Maybe he should go to the writing center. Doing so seemed like just that much more work, but his parents were paying way too much for his education for him to flunk a class. He lucked out that his roommate, Michael, was out when he returned to his room. Their room was a mess, neither of them were particularly the cleanliest people.

            Ray dropped into his desk chair, his backpack hanging loosely off of his arm. He sighed and got to work. He didn’t really have any other homework to do, he had already completed his readings for the day in class.

            He fixed all of his teacher’s marks, although half of them made no sense to Ray, and then printed out the new draft. As he wondered back out of his dorm, he tried to remember where the writing center even was. He knew they had a room in the library, but he had no idea what floor. Thankfully, there was a big sign standing in front of the main stairs that told him that the writing center was, in fact, on the third floor.

            He mentally groaned, stairs were the absolute worst. He begrudgingly climbed the stairs, panting by the time he reached the top. He wondered the third floor until he found a small sections of rooms. A sign pointed him to a lit door way behind the bookcases. He peaked into the room nervously.

            There was a couch pushed up against the far right wall, a door was next to the couch, black letters spelling office on the door’s window. Small colorful pillows were haphazardly thrown onto the couch. Behind the couch was a metal wall with magnet words on them. Someone spelled out ‘penis’ with the letters and had a circle of the other letters around it. There was an arm chair next to the door Ray was looking through. Along the far wall was a computer and a huge printer. The right wall had two doors leading to smaller rooms. At the center of the room was a table. Papers and books were stacked on the table and another student sat at the table, reading a book that had _A Short History of the Middle Ages_ scrawled in cursive across the top of the book.

            Ray choked down his nerves and cleared his throat to get the student’s attention. The student looked up at him startled then smiled at Ray. “Here for the writing center?” The guy asked and Ray’s heart thudded in his chest.

            This guy was hot. He looked older than Ray, maybe he was a senior. His hair was a pretty sandy blond and his eyes were bright blue. His t-shirt fit him too well for Ray’s health. His smile was calming and kind. “I-I uh. Yeah.” Ray smiled weakly, cursing himself for his nerves.

            The student nodded, standing. “Alright, come on.” He said, walking into one of the smaller rooms off of the main room.

            Ray gulped and followed him into the room. He was suddenly very self-conscious of how shitty his writing was. This guy had to be an upper classmen and he probably would laugh at Ray. It made it worse that the guy was fucking hot. Ray nervously sat in one of the two chairs that were in the room. The student took the seat across from Ray and took a pencil from the bright yellow cup that sat on the small table between then.

            “Alright, what’s the paper for?” The student asked, smiling reassuringly at Ray.

            Ray gulped, he considered bailing but he slid the paper over to the guy. “I uh, it’s for Professor Hawkes. I uh. It’s about this story we read and about an argument.” Ray groaned at how stupid he must sound. He sighed, hoping the guy wouldn’t laugh at him.

            “Ah Hawkes.” The guy laughed. “That’s a hard class, so you need me to read it and check it for grammar and that it makes sense?” Ray nodded, not really trusting his voice. “Alright, that’s fine then. I’ll read it aloud and we’ll edit it as we go.”

            Ray had never been so modified in his life. He mentally groaned at how bad his own words sounded in the guy’s smooth voice. However, the other student never laughed at him once. He asked him questions and explained why they were changing something. He was really nice, and it calmed Ray’s embarrassment and nerves a bit.

            “Well there you go.” the guy said, sliding Ray’s essay back over to him. “You’re welcome to come back if you need more help.”

            Ray smiled sheepishly. “Thanks, uh?” He frowned, just realizing that he didn’t know the other students name.

            The guy laughed. “I’m Ryan.” He said, offering Ray his hand.

            Ray smiled and shook Ryan’s hand. “Thank you Ryan.”

            “Anytime.” Ryan said, standing. Ray left feeling slightly better about his paper. When he returned to his dorm, he changed the things Ryan had pointed out to him. He then read his paper aloud, glad the Michael was blasting music in his headphones so he couldn’t hear him. Ryan had suggested it, and it did help. Ray could pick out when he sounded like a moron.

            He was shocked when he got the paper back the next week and he had gotten a B on it. Rather proud of himself, Ray took his next paper to the writing center the same time as the first one. He relaxed when he saw Ryan reading like he had been last time.

            Ray cleared his throat and Ryan looked up at him and smiled. “Here for the writing center?” He asked and Ray nodded, following Ryan into the side room. He had doubted that Ryan would remember him, he probably saw so many people in his job that he forgets most of them. That was alright with Ray, he just liked how Ryan edited his papers. Michael had told him that some of the writing center tutors were absolute shit.

            Just like last time, Ryan read Ray’s paper out loud and edited as he went. There were less errors this time, which made Ray happy, but they were the same ten errors over and over again. After leaving the writing center, Ray made the changes and was happy that he got yet another B.

            He didn’t have to write many papers for his other classes, but because he had to write a paper every week, he would take his time writing then go see Ryan at the same time each week. He was improving, but he was still making the same stupid mistakes. Ray actually liked coming to the writing center, unlike his friends. They complained about long wait times and not feeling like it helped at all. Ray never had to wait to be seen and Ryan was actually helping Ray tremendously. He often suggested that the others go see Ryan, but none of them ever did as it turned out.

            When Ray walked into the writing center for the fifth week in a row, Ryan wasn’t reading. He was actually watching the clock that hung between the two side rooms. He smiled at Ray when he entered. “You again?” Ryan joked, shocking Ray. This whole time he thought Ryan had no memory of his visits.

            “Oh uh, well. You know Hawkes.” Ray said lamely, shrugging. “This is a convenient time anyway.”

            Ryan laughed, standing and entering the same side room as every other visit. “Well I’m glad that I can help.” He said, smiling at Ray as he sat across from Ryan.

            Since that visit, Ryan seemed to be waiting for Ray to appear in the door way at the same time every night. They would joke about Ray’s timing or about something that happened that week, Ray would tell Ryan that he was doing progressively better and better in class, and then they would edit Ray’s new paper.

            “You are getting much better Ray.” Ryan smiled at Ray, shocking him. When did Ryan learn his name? Oh no shit. It was on the top of all of his papers. “Although you keep making some of the same mistakes.”

            Ray snorted. “You can’t tell the difference between effect and affect sometimes either.” Ray argued, smiling.

            Ryan shrugged, chuckling. “Shhhh don’t tell anyone.”

            Ray laughed and smiled at the huge nerd in front of him. Over his visits he learned that Ryan was a history and computer science double major with a theater minor. Ryan also loved video games as much as Ray did. Additionally, Ryan was a huge fucking nerd. He once told Ray that he thought getting glasses as a kid was a resolution upgrade.

            Ray took to staying after his visits to just talk with Ryan before someone else came in to get help. They hardly ever saw each other outside of the writing center. Ray would see Ryan around campus, but the junior, as he learned, was always doing something and didn’t need Ray bugging him outside of their short weekly visits.

            Michael called him out for staring at Ryan during lunch in the cafeteria one day. “Either go talk to him or stop being a fucking stalker.” Michael snorted at Ray, startling him out of his trance.

            Ray frowned. “I-I’m not a stalker!” He defended, sighing. “I just. He’s with his friends, there’s no way he’d want to talk to me. Even if I stopped being nervous for five seconds.”

            Michael rolled his eyes and shook his head. “He talks with you after editing your papers right? Why wouldn’t he want to see you outside of that?” He asked, smirking. “If he likes talking to you after reading your shitty papers I think you’re fine.”

            Ray kicked Michael’s shin, spotting one of the British transfer students running for their table. “Brit incoming.” He told Michael who was rubbing his shin.

            “Wha-“ Michael flailed his arm as Gavin crashed into him, hugging him tightly and planting kisses all over Michael’s face.

            “Micoo!” Gavin squawked, laughing when Michael tried to push him off.

            “Get off Gavin!” Michael yelled, laughter in his voice. He kissed Gavin properly and Ray made a retching noise. They had started dating the second week of school. The first week, Michael had told Ray about this annoying as fuck British kid who sat next to him in math and then the next week Michael was making out with said British kid on his bed when Ray returned from the writing center. Ray liked Gavin, he just wished they would stop being gross, or go to Gavin’s room to be gross in.

            Ray looked around the cafeteria rather than at the gushing couple. His eyes found their way to Ryan and widened when he found the other student looking back at him. Ryan quickly turned his head to talking to one of his friends as soon as their eyes met, so Ray brushed it off as nothing. There was no way Ryan was looking at lonely and lame Ray, nope.

            The next week, Ray was late to the writing center. He had returned to his dorm from class with a fucking sock on his door and Gavin’s moans echoing from his room. He sighed and set up camp in the hallway. He had his computer so he wasn’t too bored, but it was getting way past the time he normally left for the writing center and he was getting fidgety. He could go to the writing center tomorrow, but he wanted to see Ryan and his printer was currently witnessing a third or fourth fucking round and he didn’t have a flash drive to use on a school computer.

            He was tempted to just hand Ryan his computer, but he remembered the other student telling him that he hated it when he was given papers like that. Ray groaned, banging his head against the door, hoping Michael would hear it. Surprisingly Michael did hear it and let Ray in soon after, looking very sheepish. Ray didn’t care and didn’t even look at Michael’s bed as he quickly printed his paper and left again.

            When he did finally get the writing center, Ryan was already in with another student so Ray quietly sneaked into the room and sat on the couch. He leaned his head back against the wall and groaned quietly. Why did they have to fuck in his room? Why were they never in Gavin’s room? Why did he care so damn much if he saw Ryan? It wasn’t even about his papers anymore, he could catch most mistakes by himself but left them for Ryan to find anyway.

            He doubted Ryan even cared if Ray showed up. He was just another student to help, regardless of their conversations after Ryan finished editing his papers. Ray was never going to act on his crush, most guys were not gay, he just lucked out that Michael was bi and didn’t give a shit what Ray was.

            Ray looked up when the door to the room opened. A blushing girl skidded out of the room, smiling like an idiot. Ray knew that look from his own face well enough to know she only came to see Ryan too. He had even seen her around a few times. Ryan would probably go for her, not Ray.

             Ryan came out of the room a moment later, having to finish up the little sheet that told the teachers kids actually bothered to come to the writing center. He hadn’t seen Ray yet, but when he looked up his eyes went bright and he smiled. “Hey! I was wondering where you were.” Ryan told Ray.

            Ray smiled, but it felt forced. He wasn’t in the best moods tonight, even Ryan wasn’t helping. “Yeah, roommate decided to fuck three or four times when I got back to class.” He sighed, standing.

            Ryan’s face deflated for only a moment before he was smiling again, it was so quick, Ray was convinced that he hadn’t see it. “So you have a boyfriend?” He asked Ray, letting him into the side room.

            Ray sputtered, shaking his head quickly. “No! No. He was fucking his boyfriend. I was stuck in the hallway for at least four hours.” He clarified, not noticing that Ryan’s eyes light up again.

            “Ah okay, sorry to hear that.” Ryan said, taking his usual seat and taking Ray’s paper. “Four hours?”

            Ray sat and sighed. “You have no idea how gross they are.” He said, giving Ryan a small smile. “Michael’s awesome, but I wished they would to that shit in Gavin’s room or something.”

            Ryan chuckled, smiling at Ray. “Well, let’s get down to business.”

            Ray didn’t stick around after Ryan finished editing his paper, although he wasn’t sure why Ryan seemed so put out by that. He didn’t go back to his room either. He just wondered around campus just not thinking. He’d been in a shitty mood all week. Maybe it was because he saw Ryan with a bunch of girls that week. Or he overhead the jocks behind him calling him a fag in his math class. Whatever it was, Ray felt like shit.

            Somehow he ended up on the complete other end of campus from his dorm and he was slightly lost. This end of campus was mainly upper classmen doors and it was a maze of buildings. Ray considered texting Michael, but he doubted that his roommate was even awake at this point.

            As he wondered around the buildings, trying to get his bearings, a group of very drunk guys wobbled their way over to him. He frowned at the stench of alcohol that rolled off of them and tried to walk quickly past them. Just his luck, one of them grabbed his arm. “Hey you’re cute.” The one holding his wrist slurred, trying to pull Ray over to them.

            “What? Are you drunk and blind?” His friend laughed, leaning on the one who spoke. “He looks like he’s been through shit.”

            Ray bit his tongue, that hurt but he was going to take whatever a drunk idiot said with a grain of salt. “Let go.” Ray said sternly, trying to pull his arm free.

            “We’re going to a party, join us.” The third drunkard slurred, grabbing Ray’s shirt and pulling on him.

            “I don’t want to, let go!” Ray said, slapping his hand away and yanking his arm free. He turned to leave and ran straight into someone. He started to stumble back but comforting hands landed on his shoulders. He looked up and blushed. Ryan was looking down at him worriedly, their faces were way too close.

            “Are you alright Ray?” Ryan asked, looking up at the drunks who were slowly slinking off. “They didn’t do anything to you did they?”  
            Ray gulped and tried to look at anything but Ryan, although that was difficult since they were so close together. “I- No I’m fine. They just grabbed my arm.”

            Ryan nodded, letting Ray’s shoulders go and taking a step back. Ray couldn’t see very well in the dark, but he could have sworn Ryan was blushing, at least a little bit. “Right, well I’m glad you’re alright. Why are you over here anyway? The freshman dorms are on the other side of campus.”

            “Oh, well. I’ve had a shitty week so I was just walking around to clear my head.” Ray said, smiling sheepishly at Ryan. “And now I’m kind of lost.”

            Ryan blinked surprised at Ray before laughing. “Come on, we’re close to the AC.” He said, turning and gesturing for Ray to follow. “You should be more careful when you walk.”

            Ray chuckled awkwardly. “Yeah, I guessed.” He said, following a little behind Ryan. As they walked, he zoned out again. He blinked back to reality when he realized that Ryan was asking him something. “Huh, what?”

            Ryan frowned at him. He had stopped walking so that he could walk beside Ray. “What happened that has you all out of sorts?” He asked.

            He sounded worried, and Ray hopped that Ryan actually cared. He hadn’t even flinched when Ray mentioned Michael having a boyfriend, so maybe it was alright to tell him. “I-There were some jocks that called me a fag, and they keep doing it.” Ray sighed. “I mean, I know it’s just a word, but it still hurts. Makes me feel gross.”

            Ryan frowned, looking annoyed. “It’s a slur and they shouldn’t be using it.” He said, smiling at Ray and rubbing his back. “Don’t worry about them, they don’t know you’re a good person. It doesn’t matter which gender you prefer.”

            Ray smiled at Ryan then frowned again. He wondered how he was going to word this next part. “Thanks Rye, but that’s not all. I-uh- have this crush on a guy, but I keep seeing him with this really pretty girl. I guess it just sort of hit me that I don’t really have a chance with them, or anyone really. Even those drunken bastards-I.” Ray sighed in defeat. He had gone his entire life not letting these things bother him but he was exhausted. He was working so hard to get good grades. He wasn’t really sleeping all that well either and sometimes he forgot to eat.

            Ryan frowned and stopped them. He made Ray look at him. “You definitely have a chance with whoever you like.” He told Ray with a stern look. “You’re funny, smart, very good looking, and-“ Ryan blushed lightly, clearing his throat as Ray looked at him with wide eyes a small smile pulling at his lips. “You shouldn’t think that way because you can do whatever the hell you want.” He finished, smiling at Ray.

            Ray’s heart fluttered. The compliments from anyone else wouldn’t have the same effect, but Ryan saying them made him happier than they really should have. “Thank you Ryan.” He said.

            Ryan smiled and patted Ray’s shoulder. They walked to the AC in a comfortable silence. Ray told Ryan to go back, although the other student had insisted on walking Ray all the way back. Ryan gave up the fight when Ray said he wanted to think for a bit, but he made Ray promise to go straight to the dorms.

            When he got back, Michael and Gavin were fast asleep wrapped around each other. Ray turned on his xbox and put his headphones on. He was exhausted, but he didn’t want to sleep. Instead he played call of duty until he passed out around five in the morning.

            He lucked out that his class was canceled the next morning because his professor had a doctor’s appointment. He would have missed it anyway, even though he had only gotten four hours of sleep. Michael and Gavin were gone, but Michael’s bed smelled of sex and it filled the room. Gagging, Ray took a shower and changed into clean clothes before wondering out.

            He walked to the café in the AC. It had better food than the cafeteria and was less crowded. Ray dragged one of the big comfy chairs that were in the large lounge that the café sat in and curled into a ball with his sandwich and coffee. He must have looked as shitty as he felt because everyone gave him sacred looks and made wide arches to avoid going near him. Ray couldn’t bring himself to care.

            Ray finished his food and cradled his drink as he watched people enter and exit the lounge. He wanted to fall asleep right there, but the coffee and insomnia he was beginning to think he had kept his brain going a mile a minute. He was glad that he decided to have only one class on Thursdays. It gave him time to do homework or do nothing like he was now.

            Ray’s heart thudded against his chest as he watched Ryan enter the lounge with that girl he saw yesterday. She had long red hair and a pretty smile. She was much shorter than Ryan and had a bounce to her step. She looked like she didn’t take shit from anyone. Ray imagined her and Michael meeting and then regretted it because they looked like they would get along so well, then there would be three people in Michael’s bed rather than just two.

            Ryan laughed at something she said and Ray looked away, his heart aching. He watched other people and tried not to think about it. He sipped at his coffee, sighing when it was all gone. He really just wanted to sleep.

            “Hey, are you alright?” A smooth voice asked him and he jumped. The girl Ryan was with was standing in front of him with a quizzical look. “You look like shit.”

            Oh yeah, she and Michael would get along too well. “Uh, yeah. I’m fine.” He said, quickly glancing around. Where was Ryan?

            “You looked like you haven’t slept in days.” She countered. He would call her nosy if it wasn’t for the worry in her face and voice. She was a motherly busy body.

            “Well you know, projects and shit.” Ray attempted to joke. “Insomnias a bitch.”

            The girl laughed. “Yeah, that’ll do you in.” She smiled at him, and despite himself, he gave her a real smile back. “I thought my brother has the same problem. He forgets to eat too.” She said, glancing around. She chuckled and pointed at Ryan who was caught up talking to a professor. “There he is, the nerd.”

            Ray looked between the girl and Ryan before dropping his head to his knees and groaning. They were siblings? God fucking damnit.

            “You sure you’re okay?” the girl asked again, patting his shoulder. “I’m Lindsey by the way.”

            Ray looked up at her with an exhausted smile. “Ray.” He said weakly. He raised an eyebrow when Lindsey was suddenly giving him a shit eating grin.

            “So _you’re_ Ray.” She said giddily, sitting next to him.

            Ray frowned at his invaded bubble and in confusion. “Um, yeah?” He said, giving Lindsey a weird look.

            “Ryan talks about you all the fucking time!” She laughed. “This is the first time I’ve seen you though.”

            Ray looked at Lindsey shocked before glancing at Ryan who was making his way over to them. Ryan was looking directly at Ray and his eyes looked brighter than normal. “He does?” He asked Lindsey, looking back at her.

            Lindsey chuckled and stood suddenly. She started walking quickly away from them just as Ryan got to the corner. “I’ll see you two later!” She threw over her shoulder before disappearing into the crowd.

            Ryan looked after Lindsey then looked at Ray. “What did she do?” He asked suspiciously. Something told Ray that she was that little sibling that would meddle where she didn’t belong.

            Ray shrugged. “I didn’t know you had a sister.” He said, blushing and curling more into himself when Ryan sat next to him. Lindsey was small enough to leave Ray some room, but Ryan took up more space. Ray had no choice but to lean into Ryan’s side in order to stay on the chair.

            “Well, we call each other siblings although we’re not. I’ve known her since we were little.” Ryan said, setting the sandwich he had bought on his lap and opening the water bottle he had. “Why are you curled up in the corner?”

            Ray frowned, looking at the floor. “I like to people watch.” He said. “And my room stunk cause Michael didn’t clean up after himself.”

            Ryan snorted, shaking his head. “That’s gross.” He said before taking a drink. “Did you get any sleep or were they too loud?”

            Ray sighed, rubbing his eyes. “They were done when I got back. I think I have insomnia so I didn’t sleep until five this morning. I think I only got about four hours of sleep.”

            Ryan frowned at him. “You should go to the doctors. It’s not healthy to just give into your insomnia.”

            “What’s a doctor going to do?” Ray asked, shaking his head. “I’m fine.”

            Ryan looked like he wanted to argue but he didn’t. He just took a bit out of his sandwich. They didn’t talk until Ryan finished and tossed the sandwich wrap into the trash. “Come on.” Ryan said, standing and looking at Ray.

            Ray raised an eyebrow. “What?” He asked, not really wanting to move.

            “You keep bragging about your gamer score, I want to see if you’re bull shitting me or not.” Ryan smiled, offering Ray his hand to help him up. “I have an xbox in my room.”

            Ray stared at Ryan’s hand blankly before smiling. “You’re on.” He said, his exhaustion forgotten. He took Ryan’s hand and laughed when the other student started dragging him through the lounge, never letting go of his hand.

            Ryan had managed to score a single room. It was the same size as Ray’s dorm room, but it only had the things a single person would need, making the room seem much bigger. Ryan had a couch for fuck’s sake. He even had his own bathroom. He shared it with the person next to him, but it was still better than the shitty three showers for 20 smelly boys that Ray dealt with.

            Ryan laughed when Ray gushed over how lucky Ryan was, pulling the younger student to the couch. He booted up his xbox while Ray examined his other consoles. “Why the hell do you have a PS4, an xbox, and a fucking Wii?” Ray asked, grinning at Ryan.

            Ryan shrugged. “Because I can.” He smiled, laughing when Ray just lightly punched his arm in response.

            Ray cleaned the floor with Ryan in every game they played accept for some trivia game. Ray didn’t know what major he wanted to be, let alone what year the civil war was. Ryan took his win happily, glad to finally get one, and Ray just smiled and shrugged.

            They played co-op games after that, Ryan claiming that if he couldn’t win against Ray, he could at least win with Ray. They played until they grew bored of games and Ryan switched on the TV to whatever the fuck was least annoying to have playing in the background. They talked for a bit until Ryan flipped on the history channel. Ray lost the history nerd, but he didn’t mind. He curled up against the couch, eyes drooping as some guy with crazy hair talking about how aliens built the pyramids.

            He and Ryan were sitting close enough together that their legs were pressed together and their shoulders touched. They had started on opposite ends of the couch, when they had gotten so close, Ray had no idea. He just chose to not question it and enjoy the warmth the radiated off of Ryan.

            He didn’t realize that he had fallen asleep until he woke up and the room was dark. The TV was off, and he was comfortably warm. Something was wrapped around Ray’s waist and he heard a distinct thump of a heart. It took him a moment to realize that he was sleeping snuggled into Ryan’s side. His head was on Ryan’s chest and the older student had an arm tightly wrapped around Ray’s waist. They were still sitting upright, but Ray was pretty much in Ryan’s lap. He blushed brightly, but he didn’t move.

            He looked up at Ryan and saw that the other student was fast asleep, his head rolled back to lean against the wall. Ray blushed and moves closer to Ryan, smiling when the arm around him tightened. He wished he could go back to sleep, but his brain was insistent.

            Ray moved his head slightly and could hear Ryan’s heart louder than he could before. His brain emptied slowly as the sound filled his head. He remembered reading an article that said that music was shown to help some insomniacs to sleep. He guessed a heartbeat worked the same way.

            Ray feel asleep again and didn’t wake up until his human pillow started to shift under him. Ray cracked his eyes open and glanced around. He still had his glasses on his face so he could see that the digital clock that was glowing from Ryan’s DVD player. It was five in the morning. He didn’t have class until nine, but Ryan might have class.

            Ray sat up and rubbed his eyes. That was probably the most sleep that he had gotten in the past two weeks. He was feeling much better. He glanced at Ryan who was giving him a sheepish look. “Sorry I woke you.” Ryan said, standing and wondering through his room.

            Ray shook his head. “It’s fine. I would have woken up soon anyway.” He said, standing. “Sorry I uh, crashed here, and used you as a human pillow.” He blushed lightly, wincing when the overhead lights turned on.

            “Sorry about that.” Ryan said, gesturing to the light switch then shook his head. “No, you’re fine. I didn’t mind at all.” The smile he gave Ray made his stomach flip and his heart beat hard against his ribs.

            How the hell was he supposed to reply to that? “I-you’re really comfortable.” Ray’s mouth decided to say lamely. “A-and that’s probably the most sleep I’ve gotten in a while.”

            Ryan chuckled. “That’s good, you could use it.” He said, shuffling through his room grabbing things. “Unfortunately I have class in two hours.” He sighed, sounded annoyed. “Just give me a second and we can eat in the cafeteria, if you want.”

            Ray’s stomach growled at him and he nodded. “That’s no problem.” He said, not really sure what to do with himself. He decided to sit awkwardly on the couch. Ryan chuckled at him and ruffled his hair as he passed Ray on the way to the bathroom.

            About an hour later they finally made it to the cafeteria. Hardly anyone was awake at this god awful hour. Ray piled the eggs and pancakes onto his plate while Ryan gabbed a muffin and some fruit. They sat at a corner table and talked about their classes. By the time Ryan had to leave and Ray had to walk back to his dorm, Ray had several classes that Ryan suggest that Ray take next semester.

            Ray quietly opened his door. He glance at Michael’s bed and saw that Michael and Gavin were wrapped around each other, fast asleep. He smiled and quietly changed before leaving again with his backpack. He sat in the AC’s lounge and did some of his readings while he waited for his class to start. He felt significantly better and extremely giddy.

            He thought about what he decided to consider a date. Maybe Ryan did like him back. From what he remembered before waking up on Ryan’s chest, he was leaning away from the other student. Although, he was a fussy sleeper, he could have moved closer in his sleep.

            He smiled to himself, happy to think that Ryan just might like him back. Lindsey’s words echoed in his head and he smiled more. He was grinning like an idiot by the time he could actually go to class, but he didn’t care.

 

 

* * *

            Ryan fidgeted in his seat. His shift at the writing center was almost over and he hadn’t seen Ray. He hadn’t seen the other student all week and it wasn’t due to lack of trying. He had looked for Ray everywhere, cursing that he had forgotten to get Ray’s number like he planned too weeks ago. He hadn’t seen Ray since the night he decided to consider a date.

            He was starting to get worried. He would usually catch a glimpse of Ray a few times during the week, but he had yet to see him. He had even waited in the cafeteria a strange amount of time to see if he could find him. He saw the two boys Ray seemed to hang out with a lot, but not Ray.

            Maybe he was being a little creepy, but Ray had looked horrible when Ryan had seen him last. He had looked better in the morning after sleeping, but Ryan was still worried. Insomniacs could end up passing out, couldn’t they?

            As soon as his time was up he jumped out of his chair and headed to his dorm. Lindsey had told him not to worry too much when he had asked her about it, but he couldn’t help it. He had the hugest crush on Ray. He had wanted to ask him out to a proper date when he saw him next, but he hadn’t yet.

            He worried into his sleep, dreaming about Ray going into a coma and never waking up. He woke with a start then held his head. Okay, maybe he had more than a crush on Ray, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

            Ryan started asking some freshmen he knew if they knew Ray. He lucked out when a few of them did. One even knew what room he lived in. Ryan felt old as he climbed the stairs of the freshmen dorms, he hadn’t had to enter them since having to live in them. Ray lived on the second floor and in the last room in the hall. Ryan was fine until he was standing in front of Ray’s door.

            How the hell was he supposed to do this? He was literally just appearing at Ray’s door, how creepy that must look. He looked like a stalker, he just knew it. He didn’t want to scare Ray off just as they had gotten so close. God damnit, why did he have to make everything creepy?

            Swallowing his nerves, he raised his hand to knock, and the door opened before he could even try. The shorter curly headed boy Ryan had seen around Ray before stood in the door way. So this was Ray’s roommate, Michael, wasn’t it?

            “Who the fuck are you?” Michael said crudely, giving Ryan weird looks.

            Ryan frowned. “I’m Ryan, I-“ He started but didn’t get to finish.

            Michael turned to look back into the room. “Hey Ray, that hot guy you keep staring at is here.” He laughed and Ryan blushed. “Come in, I’m leaving anyway so do whatever the fuck you want.” He told Ryan before sliding past Ryan to walk down the hall, leaving the door open.

            Ryan frowned and shook his head. He slowly entered the room. It was a mess, and the lights were off. There was a TV sitting on the ground with an xbox next to it. Ryan moved further into the room and found Ray on his bed, hiding his face in his pillow.

            Ryan frowned. “Ray? Are you alright?” He asked, gently touching Ray’s shoulder.

            Ray peaked at him and Ryan’s heart melted. Ray was so cute, peaking up at him from his pillow while blushing to his ears. Ray sat up, and Ryan’s heart went from liquid to solid real fast. Ray looked awful. He wobbled where he sat like the world was spinning and the bags under his eyes were bigger than before. His nose was red and he winced when he moved his head too much.

            “I caught the flu.” Ray croaked out, coughing lightly. “How did you know my room?”

            Ryan steadied Ray with a hand on his shoulder. “I was worried when I didn’t see you so I asked around.” He said, sheepishly.

            Ray chuckled, coughing harder. Ryan rubbed his back gently until Ray finished and held his head. Ray groaned, rubbing his temple. “It really got you bad.” Ryan said, guiding Ray to lay down.

            Ray sighed relaxing into his pillow. “The doctor said it’s a noncontagious flu that gets passed around by saliva and blood.” He swallowed thickly, sniffing. “Someone didn’t clean a fork right in the caf so now a few kids are sick.”

            Ryan nodded, gently running his fingers through Ray’s hair. “Did he say how long it would last?” He asked, smiling when Ray leaned into his hand.

            “Five days. I got it Monday.” Ray sighed, closing his eyes. “He said I would feel like shit then suddenly get better.”

            “Well, since its Friday, hopefully that’ll be tomorrow.” Ryan offered.

            “That’s what I’m hoping.” Ray chuckled, opening his eyes again. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

            Ryan smiled gently at Ray. “I know, but I will anyway.” He told him, gently squeezing his hand. “Do you need anything?”

            Ray stared at him blankly for a moment before smiling adorably at him. “I’m fine Rye.” He rasped, closing his eyes.

            Ryan stayed until he fell asleep and then cleaned the room, or at least Ray’s half. The mess was driving him insane. When he finished, Michael came through the door and snorted at Ryan. “You’re still here?” He asked, holding a coffee to-go cup out to Ryan. “Then you can take care of him, I’m afraid I’ll kill him.”

            Ryan stared at the cup for a moment then took it. There was whatever soup the cafeteria was serving that day in it. “Ah, thank you.”

            Michael shrugged. “He doesn’t really want to eat, but I get it for him anyway.” He said, edging out of the room. “I’ll go sleep in Gav’s room. So you can use my bed if you want.” He shrugged.

            Ryan nodded to him, chuckling as he left. He found it amusing that Michael just assumed that Ryan was going to stay, granted, he was going to. Michael wasn’t the bad roommate he thought he was, just awkward and didn’t know how to care for a sick person.

            He set the cup aside and relaxed in Ray’s desk chair. When Ray woke up, Ryan managed to get some food in him. He stayed the night, keeping an eye on Ray and opting to sleep in the desk chair rather than Michael’s bed. He had a general idea of where it had been and he didn’t want any of it.

            Ryan was woken up the next morning by someone unceremoniously sitting in his lap to get to something on the desk. He stared wide eyed at Ray who looked like his old self again. He blushed as Ray reached for his computer and started checking his email. He seemed completely neutral to the fact the he was sitting on Ryan’s lap.

            “R-Ray?” Ryan stammered, raising an eyebrow when Ray looked at him shocked. Ray’s face turned bright red and he scrambled off of Ryan. Ryan caught him before he could crack his skull on the ground or something and pulled him to his chest.

            “S-sorry Ryan. I was r-reading a thing and forgot where I was and I sat on you and holy shit I’m so sorry and and.” Ray would have kept going if Ryan hadn’t chuckled and gently played with Ray’s hair. He kept Ray close, finding his flustered face and actions adorable.

            “How are you feeling?” Ryan asked watching Ray hide his face in his chest.

            “I uh- one hundred percent.” Ray said, his voice muffled by Ryan’s shirt. “C-can I get up now?”

            Ryan immediately let Ray go. He didn’t want to make Ray uncomfortable and he wanted to respect his boundaries. Ray quickly stood, blushing to his ears. He quickly moved around the room, grabbing a shirt and pants before disappearing from the room, telling Ryan that he would be right back.

            Ryan chuckled and glanced around the empty room. Michael’s side of the room was much dirtier than Ray’s. Freshman boys were always gross. Ray came back a few minutes later, his face was still red.

            “Are you really feeling better Ray?” Ryan asked, standing from the chair as Ray walked to his bed and sat on it.

            Ray shrugged. “I feel a lot better. I don’t want to eat and my head still hurts, but I can live with that.” He said, looking at the ground then glancing at Ryan. “Did you clean?”

            Ryan chuckled, smiling sheepishly. “Yeah, sorry.” He said, sitting next to Ray on the bed.”

            “Its fine, thanks.” Ray smiled at him and Ryan’s heart fluttered in his chest. “You didn’t have to stay the night.”

            Ryan shrugged. “You were sick and Michael wasn’t coming back so I figured that I should stay in case you needed something.” He smiled, gently ruffling Ray’s hair.

            Ray laughed and swatted his hand away. “Thank you Rye.” He said, leaning into Ryan’s side slightly.

            Ryan blushed then smiled, letting Ray lean against him. They sat in comfortable silence for a moment. Ryan mustered up his courage. “Hey Ray, when you’re feeling better, do you want to go on a date with me?” He asked, hoping that Ray wouldn’t turn him down.

            Ray was silent for so long that Ryan forced himself to look at him. Ray was staring at him wide eyed. His jaw was hanging open and he looked frozen.

            Ryan frowned, quickly looking away. “I mean- I just. You don’t have to, I’ve been meaning to ask and-“

            “NO! I’ll go!” Ray managed out with a shout. When Ryan looked at him startled he blushed and looked at the floor. “I-sorry, I was just shocked.”

            Ryan chuckled, hugging Ray tightly for a moment before letting go. Ray smiled and leaned into Ryan. Ryan wrapped his arm loosely around Ray in case it was unwanted. Ray took the hand wrapped around him and intertwined their fingers so Ryan held him tighter.

* * *

 

            Ryan jumped when there was suddenly a Ray in his lap. He laughed, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. “Where did you come from?” He asked, ignoring the gagging noises their friends were making.

            Ray snuggled into Ryan’s chest. They were in the café’s lounge, Ryan had been reading while the others ate. “I was calling your name for a few minutes there Rye.” Ray chuckled.

            Ryan put his text book down sheepishly, holding Ray with both arms. “Sorry about that.” He said, kissing Ray’s head. They had been dating since half way through last semester to half way through the second one. Their dates mainly consisted of going to see movies or playing videogames in Ryan’s room. Ryan still edited Ray’s papers, although Ray had gotten much better at them.

            “It’s fine.” Ray smiled, relaxing against Ryan.

Ryan played with Ray’s hair as he listened to his friends talk about a topic he had missed. “Hey Rye.” Ray said, looking up at Ryan. “Can I stay in your room tonight? Again.”

Ryan chuckled. “Gavin staying over?” He asked and Ray nodded.

“And Lindsey.” Ray made a face, shaking his head. Ryan snorted, kissing Ray’s head. When they started dating, Ryan official met Michael and Gavin and Lindsey officially met all three boys. She took an instant liking to Michael and Gavin, and they to her. Whatever the hell they were, it was fine since they were happy.

“Of course you can stay, you do anyway.” Ryan chuckled, squeezing Ray gently.

Ray smiled sheepishly. “It’s not my fault I sleep the best in your room.” He said, snuggling more into Ryan’s chest.

Ryan chuckled, coaxing Ray to stand so that they could get what Ray would need to stay the night at Ryan’s. Usually Ray would either fall asleep after a date or he would show up at Ryan’s door exhausted. Either way, it ended with them sleeping on the couch or the bed, Ray lolled to sleep by Ryan’s heart. It was cheesy yeah, but if Ryan wasn’t a sucker for it. Additionally, it helped Ray to get some much needed rest.

When Ryan opened the door to his room, Ray flopped onto the bed, curling up onto it. Ryan chuckled, the upperclassmen mattresses were much better than the freshmen ones. They worked on their homework to Ryan’s music. Ray setting up camp on Ryan’s bed and Ryan at his desk. It was a Friday so they could do a lot of work tomorrow, but they could also cuddle at lot tomorrow. One of those things out weighed the other.

Ryan ordered a pizza for their diner, retrieving it when the pizza guy texted him that he was there. They each devoured an entire half each before returning to their work. They only lasted an hour after eating.

Ryan eventually joined Ray on the bed, holding Ray’s back to his chest as he watched him play Pokémon on his DS. Ryan would make comments on the names and appearances of some of the Pokémon. Why was one of the Pokémon two scoops of ice cream stuck together? He had no fucking clue, but his comments made Ray laugh and that’s all he cared about.

Ray shut his DS before it died and just leaned back into Ryan. He chuckled when Ryan peppered kisses to the back of his head. He turned around and snuggled into Ryan’s chest.

Ryan smiled and rubbed Ray’s back, tracing shapes into his shoulders. Ray chuckled, lightly kissing Ryan’s shoulder. Ray fell asleep an hour later. Ryan didn’t mind, just made sure Ray could stay asleep. They could do shit tomorrow, for now they could sleep.


End file.
